California Bar Examination California Practice Subjects (Wills, Trusts, Community Property, Business & Professional Responsibility) Syllabus

California Practice Subjects (Wills, Trusts, Community Property, Business & Professional Responsibility) syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for California Practice Subjects (Wills, Trusts, Community Property, Business & Professional Responsibility) in California Bar Examination, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Wills and Succession

   4 topics

   • Intestate Succession Under California Law
   • Will Execution and Validity
     • Attested wills and witness requirements
     • Holographic wills
     • Capacity, undue influence, and fraud
   • Will Components and Changes
     • Revocation and revival
     • Codicils and integration
     • Ademption and lapse/anti-lapse
   • Omitted Spouse and Children
2. 2

   Trusts

   4 topics

   • Creation and Elements of a Valid Trust
   • Types of Trusts
     • Express, resulting, and constructive trusts
     • Charitable trusts and cy pres
     • Spendthrift and discretionary trusts
   • Trustee Powers and Fiduciary Duties
   • Modification and Termination of Trusts
3. 3

   Community Property

   4 topics

   • Characterization of Property
     • Community, separate, and quasi-community property
     • Commingling and tracing
     • Transmutation
   • Management, Control, and Fiduciary Duties
   • Special Property Issues
     • Pensions, business goodwill, and education
     • Improvements and reimbursement
   • Division at Divorce and Death
4. 4

   Business Associations

   4 topics

   • Agency and Partnership
     • Actual and apparent authority
     • General and limited partnerships
     • Fiduciary duties of partners
   • Corporations
     • Formation and the corporate entity
     • Limited liability and piercing the corporate veil
     • Directors, officers, and the business judgment rule
     • Shareholder rights and derivative suits
   • Limited Liability Companies
   • Securities and Insider Trading Basics
5. 5

   Professional Responsibility

   7 topics

   • Formation and Scope of the Attorney-Client Relationship
   • Duty of Confidentiality and the Attorney-Client Privilege
   • Conflicts of Interest
     • Current and former client conflicts
     • Imputation and screening
     • Business transactions with clients
   • Duties of Competence, Diligence, and Communication
   • Fees and Client Trust Accounts (IOLTA)
   • Candor to the Tribunal and Duties to Third Parties
   • Advertising, Solicitation, and Unauthorized Practice

California Practice Subjects (Wills, Trusts, Community Property, Business & Professional Responsibility) flashcards for California Bar Examination

23 of 58 cards from the California Practice Subjects (Wills, Trusts, Community Property, Business & Professional Responsibility) deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. Under California intestate succession, what share of the decedent's estate does a surviving spouse take of the decedent's COMMUNITY and QUASI-COMMUNITY property?

   The surviving spouse takes 100% (all of the decedent's one-half) of both the community and quasi-community property, giving the spouse the entire community estate.

2. Under California intestacy, how is a decedent's SEPARATE property divided when survived by a spouse and only ONE child (or issue of one deceased child)?

   The surviving spouse takes one-half (1/2) of the separate property and the child (or that child's issue) takes the other one-half.

3. Under California intestacy, how is a decedent's SEPARATE property divided when survived by a spouse and TWO OR MORE children (or their issue)?

   The surviving spouse takes one-third (1/3) of the separate property; the children/issue share the remaining two-thirds (2/3).

4. Under California intestacy, if a decedent leaves NO spouse and NO issue, who inherits?

   Property passes to the decedent's parents; if no parents, to the issue of the parents (siblings and their descendants); then to grandparents/their issue, then next of kin under the statutory order.

5. What are the requirements for a valid attested (formal) will in California?

   It must be (1) in writing, (2) signed by the testator (or by another in the testator's presence at the testator's direction, or by a conservator), and (3) signed by at least two witnesses who were present at the same time and witnessed the signing or the testator's acknowledgment, and who understand the instrument is the testator's will.

6. What are the requirements for a valid holographic will in California?

   The signature and the material provisions must be in the testator's own handwriting. No witnesses are required. Testamentary intent must be shown (extrinsic evidence and printed/typed words may be used to establish intent).

7. In California, what is the effect of an 'interested witness' who is also a beneficiary of the will?

   The will is still valid, but a presumption arises that the witness-beneficiary procured the gift by duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence. If unrebutted, the witness takes only the share they would receive in intestacy (the excess is voided).

8. Under California's harmless error (substantial compliance) doctrine for wills, what may save a defectively executed will?

   A document not executed in strict compliance with the witness requirement may be admitted if the proponent establishes by CLEAR AND CONVINCING evidence that the testator intended the document to be the will at the time it was signed.

9. What is incorporation by reference in California will law, and what are its requirements?

   An extrinsic writing may be treated as part of the will if: (1) the writing existed when the will was executed, (2) the will manifests an intent to incorporate it, and (3) the will describes the writing sufficiently to identify it.

10. What does California's Dependent Relative Revocation (DRR) doctrine do?

    It disregards (cancels) a revocation of a will when the testator revoked based on a mistaken belief of law or fact (often a mistaken belief that a second will is valid), where the testator would not have revoked but for that mistake. The court revives the revoked will if doing so is closer to the testator's intent.

11. How may a will be revoked by physical act in California?

    By burning, tearing, canceling, destroying, or obliterating the will with the intent to revoke, done by the testator or by another person in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction.

12. In California, what is an omitted (pretermitted) SPOUSE entitled to, and how is one defined?

    A spouse who married the testator AFTER all testamentary instruments were executed and who is not provided for. The omitted spouse receives an intestate share: all community/quasi-community property plus up to one-half of the separate property (capped at the intestate share).

13. In California, what is an omitted (pretermitted) CHILD entitled to?

    A child born or adopted AFTER all testamentary instruments were executed and not provided for receives a share equal to what they would have received by intestacy.

14. Name three exceptions that defeat an omitted spouse's or child's statutory share in California.

    (1) The omission was intentional and that intent appears in the testamentary instrument; (2) the testator provided for the spouse/child by transfer outside the will intending it in lieu of a testamentary gift; or (3) for a spouse, a valid waiver (e.g., a premarital agreement).

15. What are the essential elements required to create a valid private express trust in California?

    (1) Settlor with capacity and intent, (2) a trustee (court will appoint if none named), (3) trust property (res), (4) one or more ascertainable beneficiaries, and (5) a valid (lawful) trust purpose.

16. What is the difference between a charitable trust and a private trust regarding beneficiaries and the Rule Against Perpetuities?

    A charitable trust must have an indefinite class of beneficiaries (the public benefits) and is NOT subject to the Rule Against Perpetuities (may be perpetual). A private trust requires ascertainable beneficiaries and is subject to RAP.

17. What is the cy pres doctrine in California charitable trust law?

    When the settlor's specific charitable purpose becomes impossible, impracticable, or illegal, the court may modify the trust to fulfill the settlor's general charitable intent 'as near as possible' rather than letting the trust fail (resulting trust).

18. Distinguish a resulting trust from a constructive trust.

    A resulting trust is an implied-in-law trust returning property to the settlor (or estate) when an express trust fails or is incomplete. A constructive trust is an equitable remedy imposed to prevent unjust enrichment (e.g., fraud, wrongful acquisition), compelling the wrongdoer to convey the property.

19. What is a spendthrift trust and what is its key limitation?

    A spendthrift trust restricts the beneficiary's ability to voluntarily transfer (assign) their interest and protects it from creditors. Limitations: it cannot protect against certain claims (child/spousal support, government claims) and the settlor cannot create a self-settled spendthrift trust to shield assets from their own creditors.

20. What are the core fiduciary duties of a trustee in California?

    Duty of loyalty (no self-dealing/conflicts), duty of care (prudent administration), duty of impartiality among beneficiaries, duty to account/inform, duty to make property productive, and the duty not to delegate (except as a prudent investor would).

21. What standard governs a California trustee's investment decisions?

    The Prudent Investor Rule: the trustee must invest and manage as a prudent investor would, considering the purposes, terms, and circumstances of the trust, applying modern portfolio theory and judging prudence by the overall portfolio rather than individual investments.

22. What is the 'no further inquiry' rule regarding trustee self-dealing?

    When a trustee engages in self-dealing (a transaction with the trust for the trustee's own account), the transaction is presumptively a breach of the duty of loyalty regardless of good faith or fairness; the court makes no further inquiry into reasonableness.

23. Under the Claflin doctrine as applied in California, when may beneficiaries compel modification or termination of an irrevocable trust?

    Beneficiaries may terminate/modify only if ALL beneficiaries consent AND the modification/termination does not frustrate a material purpose of the settlor (e.g., a spendthrift, support, or age-based purpose is a material purpose that blocks early termination).

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